Aim 2 - Develop and deliver K-12 food safety activities

The North Carolina A&T food microbiology and safety laboratory will conduct two-one day workshops (Details will be posted summer 2012) on food safety as part of the summer agricultural research program (High school students) at North Carolina A&T State University.  This program will be taught by the graduate students in the food and nutritional science; the audience for these workshops will be high school students. For more details, check with Rabin Gyawali at rabingyawali@hotmail.com. Materials will be posted here and can be requested from Salam A. Ibrahim at ibrah001@ncat.edu.

Cornell University is planning to host the Food Safety 4H Career Explorations workshop for high school students in June 2012.  More details coming soon!

The Cornell University food safety laboratory is excited to partner with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Ontario County to provide a week long food science and food safety program as part of the 4-H Camp Bristol Hills during summer 2012.  The program will be developed and taught by Cornell graduate students in food safety.

Alabama A&M University participated in multiple food science sessions with high school teachers and students during the Fall 2011 semester.  Further sessions are planned for the Spring 2012 semester in which Alabama A&M University will be visiting schools during science classes.  Please contact Martha Verghese martha.verghese@aamu.edu for more information.

Andrea Moreno Switt, Food Science graduate student at Cornell University, participated in one activity of the AVID program at Ithaca High School on February 17th.  AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) is a college-readiness system designed to increase the number of students who enroll in four-year colleges. In this activity I talked with 14 students from 11am-1pm about food safety and my research with Salmonella. Students rotated in stations of grad students from different fields.

Cornell Food Science at STANYS Workshop: Cornell Food Science presented and hosted two hands-on sessions during the Science Teachers Association of New York State (STANYS) Annual Conference held in Rochester, NY, on November 5-8, 2011. This program was taught by food safety graduate students at Cornell and targeted middle and high school students. Materials can be requested from Rachel Pfuntner at rcp26@cornell.edu.

Cornell University graduate students Rachel Pfuntner and Travis Chapin represented the Department of Food Science at the Vestal High School Agricultural Career Fair on October 27th, 2011.  About 300 students came by to learn about career and educational opportunities in the field of Food Science/Food Safety.

FIRST LEGO League Food Safety Challenge:  *On October 25th a team of four 9 and 10 year olds from New Jersey who are participating in the FIRST LEGO League Food Factor Challenge visited the Food Science department to learn about food safety in fluid milk processing systems. Nicole Martin, Research Support Specialist in the *Milk Quality Improvement Program, Daina Ringus, graduate student in the Food Safety Laboratory, and Jason Huck, manager of Cornell Dairy, helped the team think through potential food safety issues that may be encountered in fluid milk processing. The team was also given a tour of the Cornell Dairy processing facility for a hands on look at how milk is processed.

Additionally, six graduate students and two research support specialists from the Food Safety Laboratory and Milk Quality Improvement Program have served as mentors for eight other FIRST LEGO League teams.  The teams were comprised of junior high school students from the East coast and midwest.  Research areas that the teams focused on included Listeria monocytogenes contamination of dairy products, ready-to-eat meats, and produce as well as Salmonella contamination of eggs.  Mentors provided support that ranged from communicating scientific findings to arranging tours of commercial cheese plants.  Several of the teams have recently reported that they have advanced through the first stages of the contest!

Cornell Food Science at the New York State (NYS) Fair:  Graduate students and staff from Cornell University's Department of Food Science hosted a booth in the 4-H Youth Building at the NYS Fair Saturday, September 3, 2011 from 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.  Cornell's University's Food Science booth engaged over 600 people of all in interactive educational activities focusing on food safety. 

Have you ever gotten sick from the food you ate?  If so, you're hardly alone: the CDC estimates that foodborne illness strikes about 50 million Americans each year.  Have you heard about any food-related outbreaks or food recalls recently?  Whether it's in spinach, ground beef, pine nuts, or even pet food, there always seems to be a food source that is contaminated with Salmonella, E. coli, Listeria, or another potentially deadly type of bacteria.  How are these outbreaks detected?  How are they traced to the original source?  How are they dealt with?  These are the questions explored at a two and a half day Food Safety workshop that's part of the 4H Career Explorations conference at Cornell June 28-30.  12 students in grades 9-12 from across New York State participated in food safety activities led by food safety graduate students. Students were presented with an outbreak scenario and spent the remainder of the time working in small groups and with graduate students to use epidemiological and molecular techniques to determine the most likely source of the outbreak as well as to suggest control and preventative measures.  Materials are posted here and can be requested from Travis Chapin at tkc24@cornell.edu. The conference was sponsored by the New York State Cooperative Extension Service at Cornell University 4-H program.  

North Carolina A&T State University hosted the Research Apprenticeship Program (RAP) this summer from June 27-July 22.  3 high school students performed food science research in Dr. Salam A. Ibrahim's lab as described below:

• Dedrick Dunton:  Antimicrobial activity of ascorbic acid alone or in combination with lactic acid on Escherichia Coli O157:H7 in laboratory medium.
• Caleb S. Locklear:  Antimicrobial activity of onion extract against Escherichia coli O157:H7.
• Lisa Wamban:  The Effects of Selected Rat Poison on the Growth of Yogurt Culture.
  

The North Carolina A&T State University food microbiology and safety laboratory conducted a one-day workshop on food science and safety on Monday, January 10th, 2012, in South East Middle School, 1200, Old Salem road, Kernersville, NC.  This program was taught by the graduate students in the food and nutritional sciences; the audience for this workshop was middle school students.

The following gave presentations:

Madhavi Hathurusinghe:  Food Safety Introduction
Bernice Karlton-Senaye:  Food Safety Applications
Marcella Cheek-Crook:  So, You Want to Become a...Food Scientist
Rabin Gyawali:  Food Components
Saeed Hayek:  Introduction to Food Science and Technology
Sangeetha Viswanathan:  Ensuring Milk Safety

The food microbiology and safety laboratory at North Carolina A&T State University has conducted a food safety and protection seminar on Wednesday April 11, 2012 in Carver Hall, This was part of the food safety activates.  Audience was undergraduate and graduate student in the School of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences at North Carolina A&T State University.

The following gave presentations:

Rabin Gyawali:  Food Components, 

Mehrdad Tajkarimi:  New courses in food defense and safety

Saeed Hayek:  Introduction to Food Safety

Larriale Spruill: Basic understanding of food defense and protection

Marcella Cheek: Food Defense for Agricultural Commodities applying the CARVER + Shock Method 
Rabin Gyawali:  Food Components, 

Mehrdad Tajkarimi:  New courses in food defense and safety

Saeed Hayek:  Introduction to Food Safety

 Larriale Spruill: Basic understanding of food defense and protection

 Marcella Cheek: Food Defense for Agricultural Commodities applying the CARVER + Shock Method

North Carolina A&T State University hosted the Research Apprenticeship Program (RAP) this summer from June 27-July 20, 2012.  Six high school students performed food science research in Dr. Salam A. Ibrahim's lab.  Four students completed research projects.  The projects were:

1. Name:  Antonio Powell:  Project title:  Effect of Commonly Administered Medical Drugs on the Death Rate of Bifidobacterium Microbiota.

2. Name: Shannon Walston:  Prject title:  Antimicrobial activity of copper alone or in combination with ascorbic acid against E. coli O157:H7, Salmonella and Cronobacter spp. in laboratory medium

3. Name: Mariah Bishop: Project title:   Use of Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) to develop a medium for cultivation of Lactobacillus reuteri

4. Name: Briana Holness: Project title:   Sensory evaluation of cupcake fortified with Omega-3PUFA (Fish Oil) 

Students also attended several lectures and demonstrations related to introduction to food science, dairy food processing, food safety, food protection and HACCP. A totla of 6 lectures and two labratory demonstractions.

Students conducted several experiemnts related to microbiological quality of fresh produce and milk products from local stores.
    
 

 
  

   
 

Alabama A&M University hosted a food science summer program during 2011 for high school students.  The program focused on all the different aspects of product development with special emphasis on food safety, development of HACCP plans, etc.  For more information contact Martha Verghese martha.verghese@aamu.edu.